Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for detecting dental caries and an X-ray imaging apparatus and, more particularly, a method and apparatus for detecting dental caries and an X-ray imaging apparatus that can automatically detect occurrence and the degree of development of caries by processing dental X-ray images.
Description of the Related Art
Caries is a disease caused by breakdown of the hard tissues of teeth and bacteria are generally known as the cause.
In Korea, 80% of population have caries, and the development is clinically divided into four stages: The first stage of caries is limited to the enamel of a tooth; it develops to the dentine in the second stage; it develops to the nerve in the third stage; and in the fourth stage, there is only a remnant tooth root left with the crown breaking down.
In general, doctors detect caries by visually looking inside the mouth of a patient or checking dental X-ray images.
That is, according to the method of detecting caries in the related art, since doctors visually check the inside of the patient's mouth, it takes long time to determine caries and objective determination may not be made, so there may be an error in the determination.
Further, according to the method of detecting caries in the related art, doctors have to visually minutely check the inside of the patient's mouth even if the patient does not have caries, so there is difficulty in dental examination and treatment.